There must be other folks here with goats. So I figured I'd start a thread for us all!

My herd is small, mostly Nigerian Dwarf goats, except for my single Angora goat. I keep them for milking, and companionship. They're lovely little critters, very sweet and smart. They're like little dogs with hooves!

On to pic spam! Because I don't have anyone to help me do any proper 'setup' poses on flat ground, all aren't perfect. But then again, I prefer a goat looking natural rather than stretched.

This is Keweenaw Copper Lady, the first goat born on my farm. Her conformation turned out great, so she became a keeper! Yea, she is a part of my avatar, because this picture turned out so properly.

This is Grasse Acres Winter is Coming. She is a a delightful little girl. And I've never seen a goat with such contrast! The buckskin pattern with stark white is amazing!

This is Pelican Acres TLP Yseult. AKA, Suzie Q! Her full brother from the same birth is a champion buck. She is bred for kids this March, and I am excited!

Sunnybrook Yoko is my herd queen. It is her way, or nobody's way. She is an absolute doll, a great milker, and a fantastic mother. Yoko is bred for April kids.

Her udder, yay for goat milk!

Bailey, this is her when her kids were a couple of hours old. She is bred for April kids, too.

Cedar Pond Farm Tractor George (I didn't name him, he came prenamed, hah!). He throws blue eyes all around. Literally, every kid he has sired pops out with blue eyes. After a few more kiddings, if that trend continues, it will be obvious he is homozygous for blue eyes. He gets his job done with gusto, and is an easy to handle boy.

Grasse Acres Johnnie Walker is my other buck, a young guy. He was a bottle baby (his mother got mastitis) so he is a pocket goat. He can be a little too friendly sometimes, but I love him dearly. Three out of four of his grandparents are permanent grand champions, so I have big expectations for him!

Copper Lady and her brother when they were a lot tiner!

Bailey's kids from earlier this near, Nigoras! They turned out soft as fluffy bunnies, even though they're much older than this picture! Their winter coat is the plushiest thing I've ever felt. They were bought by a a close friend of mine.

Awww! Your goats are too cute! I adore those Nigoras. I may be suffering a cuteness-induced heart attack.

I also have an Angora! I love the breed. I'm blown away by how different my girl looks from yours though. My girl is basically like a goat-Basset Hound, or something - with short stubby legs, and a BIG body for her size. Their ears are also super different - my girl's ears are long and droopy, almost like a Nubians. Huh! So interesting!

Anyway, I only have two goats. Hazel, the Angora, is my "old lady" at 10 years old [she'll be 11 in April]. Then, there's Atticus who is nearly 2 [March 26th!] and a LaMancha/Alpine cross.
I got them about a year+half ago, specifically to be my horse's companions [she's nearly 29 and almost completely blind - she needed some laid back pasture mates]. I've since discovered that they are quite fun in their own right though!

They both came from the same place - Atti's mom was the owner's milk goat and he was one of her two spring babies. He was going to be dinner if I didn't take him...and being a sucker, I took him. He was 6 months old and barely touched at that point. He's still quite spooky and whatnot but he's really coming around. I would like for him to eventually be a hiking/cart/trick goat but we'll see. So far he's loving the trick goat part!!
Hazel needed to be retired from breeding [the owner adored her and didn't want to her to die from breeding complications due to her age] and, again, because I am a sucker for a sad old face, I brought her home with Atticus.

I LOVE having them around. Atticus and my horse are basically besties and Hazel is the best at cuddling. Atticus is so fun and playful while Hazel is an all around great companion. Hazel doesn't demand a whole lot, she just wants to be near people - she's REALLY sweet. Atti, on the other hand, is full of surprises and "help". He's also really sweet and quite good natured...just A LOT of energy in a Great Dane-sized body. Haha

Can you tell at all that I LOVE my goats? Hahaha!

Pictures!

Hazel!

Atticus!

And Atti doing what he does best: irritating Hazel -

And here's a video of Atti doing tricks!
He's a lot better at them now - this video is from September-ish.
And, of course, it helps that I figured out why he kept doing "up" when I told him "back-up"...he had attached "back" to backing up and "up" to his rearing trick - he thought I was chaining the commands and asking him to "back" then "up"!!
SO SMART.
Now I've changed commands so "back-up" is simply "back" and he' stopped confusing the two. :)

We had a herd of about 40 registered boers this spring. We sold them to buy a new farm, I only kept 3 for pets. Maggie is the traditional colored doe and her two daughters are the red ones, Molly and Penny. Maggie is 5, year daughters were born in March of this year.

Me! I own and love goats too!
I'll try to grab some pics from the other computer tonight...but I currently breed Oberhasli dairy goats. I've owned nearly all the different breeds and still have a couple of Nigerians too.

Right now my herd is on the smaller side with just five (until kidding season) but I've had as many as 20 goats at a time. While I have definite ideas on which breeds I like better and why (Oberhasli!!) in general I do like all goats regardless of breed.
I use the milk for cooking, baking, and cheese making, but am best known for my goat milk fudge and old fashioned tapioca pudding.

So here are some of mine and I will dig up some more when I can. Daisy.jpg

Can anybody tell me why some goats have no ears? I think the ones with long, floppy ears look so cute!

It's a breed thing, a LaMancha breed trait is "ear-less-ness". For instance, my guy, Atticus, inherited his baby ears from his LaMancha mom. There are a few 'styles' of small LaMancha ears, so some have absolutely no visible "ear" while others have little nubby ears - like Atticus. I believe I've heard that, for the breed, having no visible ear is the most desired but I think it's one of those genes you can't double up without problems [one parent has to have bigger ears]..but I could be wrong.

I love long floppy ears too!
However, I have grown to like Atti's ears [I used to hatttte them]. I think they add humor to his face - those huge horns, little beard, and no ears! I think he might look pretty intimidating if he did have ears, you know?
The other nice thing -though I'm not sure if it's really ear-related- is that Atti LOVES having his ears scratched, while floppy-eared Hazel can't STAND having her ears touched. For me, I automatically go to scratch the ears of dog-sized animals which often ends up accidentally irritating Hazel. Atti, on the other hand, couldn't love it more.

Are they good 'pets'? (Probably not the right word...) They seem smart. And cute.

Wallaby--I. Love. Atticus'. Pompoms.

Doooo it. Goats are super fun!
As far as being pet-like..I mean, I basically treat Atti like he's my dog [ dog, with rules..of course] and it works out pretty well. Atticus is SUPER bonded to me, in a way similar to that of a dog, but he's also definitely a prey animal [spook first, ask questions later]. Anyway, goats=excellent outdoor "pets", imo.

And thanks! I love his pompoms too! Haha He likes to walk under Lacey's belly and with those horns...
Speaking of which, I went shopping with my mom today, we were in the pet section, we saw mini-tennis balls like he wears, and she decided that Atti "needs" a Christmas present from her - in the form of horn tennis balls.

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